» Posts Tagged ‘acting’
This is a guest post by filmmaker Jeremy Engle.
Many filmmakers are weary of casting real teenagers, particularly non-professional ones, in their movies. And for good reason: You can’t shoot long hours, if you film during the school year, you need to get them tutors, and there’s tons of extra paperwork. And I haven’t even mentioned the parents. For many, teenage actors just add up to too many headaches. More »
You might have heard his name before as an actor, but Edward Burns is also an accomplished director in his own right. He’s been steadily making films for more than a decade now (his newest is The Fitzgerald Family Christmas), but it’s only been the last few years that he has tried to make films the DIY way, raising small amounts of money to make smaller movies that he can distribute digitally. If you needed any proof that digital distribution can work, look no further than his recent films. A little while back he sat down with Ghetto Film School in a Google Hangout to discuss directing and give some advice on how to work with actors. More »
While personal branding can be an important consideration to make in today’s world of hyper-stimulation and instantaneous mass media, there’s also a danger to become type-cast or pigeonholed given the body of work you’ve already established for yourself. Recently, director Rick Alverson has teamed up with the stars/masterminds behind Adult Swim’s Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! – Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim — in a project that anyone familiar with the latter series may actually find difficult to believe. The Comedy screened at this year’s Sundance and has subsequently been released on VOD, and Tim Heidecker’s lead performance has received some impressive nods and positive attention. In a recent interview by Filmmaker Magazine, Tim highlights the benefits of breaking your own creative molds. More »
There aren’t too many acting posts on this site, but more often than not acting advice can be helpful for directors as well. In this case, Dave Foley, of Kids in the Hall fame, talks about how he stays sane between jobs and how being able to work at all in the industry is a complete fluke. Even if you’re not an actor, if filmmaking is (or becomes) your day job, you will most certainly go through periods of inactivity, so his advice can definitely apply to more than just actors. Check out the interview with Film Courage below. More »
Can you look inside and see a murderer? A saint? A fascist? In this thought-provoking clip, Orson Welles shares some of his views on acting, and how great performances depend on the act of revealing — the ability to show those parts of ourselves that are the character. Whether you agree or disagree, it’s worth checking out and pondering: More »
How do you make sure you stay in frame and focus while performing? What is the best way to work with off-camera actors while performing a close-up? How can props like cigarettes become a major headache? Michael Caine answers these questions and more as part of a film acting workshop broadcast on the BBC. You can watch the hour-long special in its entirety after the jump, along with 10 film acting lessons pulled from it — highly recommended for actors and non-actors alike!: More »
This is a guest post by DP and filmmaker Randolph Sellars.
I’ll be talking about working with experienced actors and feeling a little uncomfortable or inadequate as a director. The lack of confidence when directing actors is an embarrassing secret many directors share that’s not often discussed. More »
I heard recently from an NYC-based actor friend who is undergoing an internal debate common to his profession. Should he move to LA to pursue an acting career (uprooting himself in hopes of getting cast in a major TV show or film), or stay where he is and do what he can outside of Hollywood? As someone who runs a web site focused on DIY/independent careers, I thought I’d write him an open letter explaining why I think 21st-century performing artists should forget about putting their careers in the hands of others, and instead take the reins — and responsibility — themselves. Here is that letter: More »
This is the fifth in a series of guest posts by filmmaker Raafi Rivero.
Several of you have reached out via comments, email, and twitter about continuing the Director’s Chair series and I’m glad for all the feedback. One of the most-requested ideas was to do a post on working with non-actors. I’ll start with an old saying that comes from our sister profession, photography: The camera looks both ways. More »
This is the fourth in a series of guest posts by filmmaker Raafi Rivero.
I often hear directors say stuff like, “he was good in the audition, but I don’t know what happened.” How do you tell a buddy that his actor sucked? Half the time you sit there thinking, “well, did you direct him?” How do you get a woman who was so good in the audition to just relax and be who she was before? The sad news is that if you “don’t know what happened” I can tell you: you weren’t a good enough director that day. These are the bad times. The slightly better news is that it happens to all of us at some point. And hopefully you learn from it. More »
This is the third in a series of guest posts by filmmaker Raafi Rivero.
“Going again!” There are a million reasons why you do another take on a shot: bad camera move, bad sound, flubbed line, etc. But there are pitfalls to shooting too many takes just as there are shooting too few. Sometimes you go again without giving actors feedback (this is bad). Sometimes you don’t go again and walk away with a sub-par performance (this is worse). Let’s talk about the realities of shooting multiple takes on set. More »
This is the second in a series of guest posts by filmmaker Raafi Rivero.
“What’s my motivation?” This clichéd line that you hear from people making fun of actors has obfuscated its utility. In film school a professor of mine referred to every beat in the script as an action. There are physical actions (he picks up a sword) and verbal actions (“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die”). Each action in a good script has a significance. In rehearsal and in prepping your actors, be sure to go over scenes beat-by-beat, if necessary, to make sure everyone understands the scene. Why a character does one thing and not another: their (yes) motivation is what will inform how the actor internalizes the action. More »
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